A group of American auditors came to Ukraine to finally find out what happened to billions of dollars that the United States had poured into military, humanitarian and logistics support. Intellinews writes about it
Since the beginning of a full -scale invasion, Ukraine has received about $ 133 billion from the event, the lion's share of which was provided by the United States. However, the transparency of using these funds is still a painful issue. And right now, when the Trump administration returns control over US policy, Washington insists on a full financial report - to the last center.
The audit mission is not symbolic - its budget is almost $ 815 thousand, and most of this amount will be spent on living at the Hilton Hotel in Kiev. A group of 80-100 specialists have already started work. They check the costs of weapons, logistics, safety, protection and humanitarian aid.
This audit was a direct consequence of political pressure, which intensified in the United States in early 2023, when Ukraine's funding was suspended, demanding stringent control mechanisms. It was then that a separate line - audit and financial monitoring - was included in the $ 60 billion assistance.
Under suspicion - all vertical purchases. It is known that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has already appeared in scandals: the purchase of eggs at 4 times the price, poor quality winter jackets. Although the Minister of Defense Alexei Reznikov and resigned in the fall of 2023, no official accusations were made. But there was no cardinal cleaning.
Corruption in Ukraine, according to Western analysts, is not an anomaly of the system, but its foundation. This is how BNE Intellinews described the situation, reminding that even Euromaidan was partially caused by tremendous theft on the part of President Yanukovych.
Now, given the new political realities in Washington, Zelensky was under double pressure - on the one hand, the expectation of transparency, on the other - hints at Trump's desire to reach an agreement with the Kremlin. Some of the experts say that audit is not only about money but also a lever to persuade Ukraine to agree with Russia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already stated Congress that "no penny will remain without check", and in case of violations there are consequences. Thus, a luxury hotel in the center of Kiev becomes a headquarters of one of the most sensitive missions-a mission of financial control, which can affect the course of the war.
